Friday, April 21- Making Waves Academy was honored to host a truly inspiring event featuring a number of prominent civil rights powerhouses. Students gathered to welcome California artist Rigo23, prison reform and justice system activist Robert King, and community activist and organizer Malik Rahim.
Robert King, a long-time prison reform and justice system activist, is one of three men collectively known as the Angola-3, who were incarcerated in Louisiana’s Angola State Penitentiary. The Angola-3 experienced the longest period of solitary confinement in American prison history.
King is the inspiration behind Rigo23’s large-scale mosaic mural, Pebbles in the Water, located on the Making Waves Academy campus in Richmond, CA. In 2018, Rigo23, along with three other local artists, partnered with Making Waves Academy students to derive ideas for artworks for the school’s new campus. The mural, the first of two he created for the school, is underpinned by Robert King’s powerful quote,
King is the inspiration behind Rigo23’s large-scale mosaic mural, Pebbles in the Water, located on the Making Waves Academy campus in Richmond, CA. In 2018, Rigo23, along with three other local artists, partnered with Making Waves Academy students to derive ideas for artworks for the school’s new campus. The mural, the first of two he created for the school, is underpinned by Robert King’s powerful quote,
“You throw pebbles in a pond, you get ripples. If enough pebbles are thrown, you get a wave. One day, that wave can become a tsunami.”
Robert King
Revisiting his art with King by his side, Rigo 23 said, “I think it’s just remarkable that this campus has been built from scratch to serve the constituency that it serves. That’s such an honorable thing. I’m kind of beside myself with gratitude and pride, to be able to be a small part of what this campus is about.”
Surrounded by students, King recounted his experience of being held in solitary confinement. He shared, “The Angola-3, we were all convicted for crimes that [none] of us committed. They had us placed in solitary confinement. They had me under investigation for a [prison] murder– I was not even in prison when it occurred. I was under investigation for that murder for 29 years.”
King, also explained the programs and goals of the Black Panther Party, encouraging students to fight for justice for all people. “When the Black Panther Party came along, they put everything in perspective for me. Black Lives at that time did not matter for some people. This is a loop phenomenon. When Harriet Tubman said, ‘come on, let’s go to freedom’, when she did what she did, she was saying black lives matter.
Joining King, was community activist and organizer Malik Rahim, who played a critical role in organizing relief efforts for residents of New Orleans, during Hurricane Katrina. He founded the Common Ground Collective, a grassroots organization that helped provide housing, healthcare, and other basic needs to residents of the city. Rahim has also been involved in environmental activism, particularly around issues related to pollution and the impact of the oil and gas industry on local communities.
Rahim, a founding member of the Louisiana Black Panther Party shared, “[Someone] asked me –when I when will I retire? I told them never. I’m not in this struggle for a day, week or a year, I made a lifetime commitment to this.”
He also impressed upon students the importance of advocating for the environment. “Right now, I truly believe that your generation canbe the generation that’s going to either save life as we know it on this planet, or the generation that squandered it away. I’m 75 years old. I want you to think about how, how this planet will look when you’re 75.”
For the Making Waves Academy community, whose values are rooted in community and “recycling success,” having multiple civil rights powerhouses under one roof was inspiring. CEO Alton Nelson said, “We are so honored to have had our special visitors today, who are living embodiments of what it means to commit yourself to work that aims to put helping others first – taking the step to make the ripple that can create a wave.”
The event was also attended by Contra Costa poet and Making Waves alum, Donté Clark, who performed one of his poems in honor of the occasion. The event was a powerful reminder of the importance of social justice and the potential for positive change when individuals come together to fight for what is right.
Making Waves Academy is a college-preparatory public charter school serving 1,100 5th-12th grade students in Richmond, California and the surrounding communities. The school’s mission is to prepare students with the academic and personal skills needed to succeed in college and career while fostering a commitment to social justice and community involvement.
For more information, please visit the school’s website at www.makingwavesacademy.org
